Giving birth through cesarean section, or c-section, is a popular and often life-saving way for women to have babies.

However, some people have made it known that they don’t consider these to be “real births.” Though I’m not a mother, it still baffles me that anyone would believe that having major surgery like this would be taking the easy way out, but many do.

Fed up with reading all the negative talk about c-sections online, new mom Jodie Shaw decided to speak out in a Facebook post and reveal what having the procedure really looks like.

“A new day and what seems to be another new post from someone insinuating that giving birth by cesarean means that you didn’t give birth,” she writes.

Shaw had a fibroid, otherwise known as a noncancerous tumor, on her cervix. This growth made it necessary for doctors to cut her belly open vertically.

Having a c-section was the only way to get her baby out safely without losing a dangerous amount of blood. She didn’t have to think twice about it. Then again, she didn’t have a choice. The same can be said for many other women who have the procedure.

In honor of all of the wonderfully brave ladies who have given birth through c-sections, here are the realities that people need to know before they decide to pass judgement.

Women end up having cesareans because it’s the safest option and often necessary for their child’s health as well as their own. It isn’t because they are weak or lazy. There’s nothing easy about it.

Mothers are awake when their abdomens are cut open. They have to stay calm knowing that their organs are exposed on the other side of the medical sheet while simultaneously worrying about their babies coming out safely.